A man will appear in court later charged with attempted
murder after a knife attack at Leytonstone Underground station in east London
on Saturday.
Muhaydin Mire, who is 29 and of Sansom Road, east London, is
due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court.
A 56-year-old man was left with "serious" stab
wounds and another person was injured during the attack at 19:00 GMT.
A man was arrested after being Tasered by police officers. A video of the aftermath of the attack shows a man being pinned
to floor having been Tasered by police, after which an unidentified bystander
is heard shouting: "You ain't no Muslim bruv."
Deputy Chief Constable Adrian Hanstock from British
Transport Police has appealed to anyone with photos or video of the attack at
the Central Line station to contact the force.
"We would like to reassure passengers and people
travelling this morning is that we've increased our staff - they'll see a lot
of police officers across the network, as well as some of our supporting and
complementary teams that provide a more specialist response," he said.
Commuters reported a strong police presence at Victoria
Station on Monday morning, but not at King's Cross. A Transport for London spokesman said there had been no
change in the number of people using the Tube.
Weekend is a 2011 Romance, Drama film written and directed
by Andrew Haigh. The film follows Russell who after a drunken night with his
straight friends heads to a gay club and meets Glen. It’s expected to be a one
night stand but it turns into something else, something special.
Pride is a 2014 Comedy, Drama directed by Matthew Warchus
and written by Stephen Beresford. It is set in the summer of 1984 and surrounds
a group of U.K. gay activists working to help miners during their lengthy strike
of The National Union Of Mineworkers.
These films have their similarities and differences particularly
in themes and representation. The most obvious similarity is that both films
are based on gay people and neither seem to be portrayed that stereotypically. Pride
was based on a true story and so the characters based on real life people were probably
true to life where as Weekend was completely fictional so they were able to
portray the characters in any way they liked.
The representation of homosexuality in Weekend was neither
solely positive or negative, it included both as there were scenes when you’d
hear “Faggot” being shouted across the street which is obviously very negative
and shows there are still people against homosexuality. However it was positive
as the relationship between two men was shown from their point of view so it
was shown as any relationship that would be between a man and a woman. They did
not show their homosexual relationship to be bad they portrayed it as a usual
relationship. I would say they represented it as more positive as the majority
of characters accepted that they were gay. In Weekend they showed themes of
masculinity in one particular scene when Glen was talking to a man at the bar,
and this man was having a discussion with Glen and although Glen asks if it’s
because he’s gay the man never responds with yes or no almost as an attempt to
keep his pride.
But in Pride the representation of homosexuality was more negative
than positive. All throughout the film the gay people were trying to support
and raise money for the miners who at first didn't want their support because
they’re gay and in 1984 being gay was barely accepted. So although it was shown
as negative at the time the overall portrayal of homosexuals was that they’re
just normal people trying to help those in need. Masculinity was shown as a
strong theme from many characters. With particular men at the bar really
disliking the fact that gay people were trying to raise money for them. However
after seeing one of the gay men dancing with a woman he liked he almost gave up
his masculine ‘pride’ and asked to be taught how to dance because he knew she
liked it.
Cards Against Humanity trolls the world making $71000 after charging $5 for absolutely nothing on Black Friday "On Black Friday, everybody is selling something. We're the only company to offer the superior Black Friday experience of buying nothing"
The popular game Cards Against Humanity (CAH) collected $71,000 (£42,2000) after asking people to pay them $5 on Black Friday, for nothing in return. CAH, which calls itself "a party game for horrible people" had a message on its website stating: "This Black Friday Only! Give Cards Against humanity $5." Below, was a box to tick stating: "I understand I am paying Cards Against Humanity $5 and receiving nothing in return."
The company tweeted: “On Black Friday, everybody is selling something. We’re the only company to offer the superior Black Friday experience of buying nothing.
"The greatest Black Friday gift of all is buying nothing. We’re offering that for the rock-bottom price of $5. How can you afford NOT to seize this incredible opportunity?"
They also Tweeted "On Black Friday a lot of companies promise you something for nothing. We're the only company to offer you nothing for something."
On the website, the company explained "11,248 people gave us $5, and 1,199 people gave us more than $5. One enthusiastic fan gave us $100. In the end we made a windfall profit of $71,145. They said "There’s been a lot of speculation about how we would spend the money from Black Friday, and we’re happy to announce that this time, we kept it all."
Man Appears in court charged with Kayleigh Haywood's murder
Two men have been remanded in custody by a court after the death of missing 15-year-old Kayleigh Haywood.
Stephen Beadman, 28, from Ibstock appeared at Leicester Magistrates Court charged with rape and murder. A second man, Luke Harlow, 27, also of Ibstock, has been charged with grooming and two counts of sexual activity with a child.
Kayleigh Haywood, from Measham in Leicestershire, was dropped off outside Ibstock Community College at around 6pm on November 13, despite making contact with her parents the following morning she had not been seen since. It is said she was meeting up with someone that she had met online.
Officers from across the region were drafted in to help search for the missing girl, but her body was found in undergrowth near a lake in Sence Valley Forest Park on November 19.
It is always such a tragedy whenever a murder takes place and there have been frequent kidnappings of young teenage girls witch is always devastating. The fact she was meant to be meeting up with someone she met online (whether she did or not) warns us greatly of the dangers of online meetings. The men accused deserve a long and heinous prison sentence. R.I.P Kayleigh Haywood.
Investigations into the series of terrorist attacks that killed more than 120 people in Paris are moving forward, with people taken into custody and two of the gun-wielding suicide bombers identified. ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacres in a statement. In response, France has carried out air strikes on targets in the militant organization's stronghold in Raqqa, Syria. Three teams of terrorists staged coordinated attacks at six locations throughout Paris late Friday, including a concert hall, the Stade de France and at least two restaurants, Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said Saturday. Molins said that at least 129 people were killed and 352 wounded in the attacks. Ninety-nine of the wounded are reported to be in a very serious condition, he said.
Hollande declared a state of emergency across France, which lets authorities limit people's movements and impose zones of security and protection. The French government says its has also tightened border controls to prevent potential attackers from entering and to capture anyone involved in the attacks.
French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said the gendarmerie paramilitary police are on heightened alert and security forces have been increased across France.
Hollande ordered 1,500 military troops to join the security forces currently deployed. The troops will secure locations that are "particularly strategic" and will patrol in the heart of Paris, Cazeneuve said.
David Cameron spoke about the issue live on tv:
What has happened in Paris is absolutely devastating and terrifying for all. It puts emphasise on how we all need to come together and fight back because who knows where they could strike next. 129 people were killed and 352 injured is a dreadful number. May those murdered R.I.P.
Starbucks Plain Red Holiday Cups stir up controversy
Starbucks said it removed "symbols of the season" used in the past, which have included reindeer and ornaments, in favor of a simple, two-toned red cup.
When the cups rolled out in late October, Starbucks(SBUX) vice president Jeffrey Fields said the company "wanted to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories."
Joshua Feuerstein, a former pastor who calls himself a "social media personality," took exception.He posted a video to Facebook on November 5 that went viral. Feuerstein criticizes Starbucks for removing "Christmas from their cups because they hate Jesus." Feuerstein encouraged customers to say "Merry Christmas" instead of their names in order to "trick" baristas into writing the phrase on the cup. He said to use "#MerryChristmasStarbucks" to post photos online.In response to Feuerstein's video,
Starbucks said in a statement Sunday that it tries "to create a culture of belonging, inclusion and diversity." The cup is meant to be a "blank canvas" that encourages "customers to tell their Christmas stories in their own way," Starbucks said.
I think this story is unbelievable. It's suprising to think Christians would be insulted by the fact Starbucks no longer have Christmas symbols on the cup. If they seriously think Starbucks removed the symbols because they "hate jesus" then they are taking this whole matter way too seriously.
Reggie Yates documentary takes place in Ferguson, Missouri following the death of Black teenager Michael Brown by a police officer. Yates follows the story of police brutality vs race. Yates talks to a range of people both White and Black and of all ages and learns what they believe. All the Black people Yates talks to say they want peace, they don't want to walk down the street afraid they might get shot. Just from hearing them say this it emphasises how afraid the Black people of America are becoming in fear the might not live through the day.
When Yates when to a police training day he watched how they dealt with situations and what they did when threatened. I understand that because everyone in America has the right to keep and bear arms the police need to be prepared for the worst of situations but it seems during their training the only thing they are teaching the officers is to shoot. It amazed me that the only scenario they carried out was a traffic stop, they aren't dealing with high profile crimes just a traffic stop. The whole documentary really showed how the gun laws in America need to be changed because it seems everyone including the police are afraid on the guns.
Racial profiling is obviously a huge problem in america, I specifically noticed this when Yates spoke to a group of peaceful protesters supporting Darren Wilson (The officer who shot Brown) although they also claim to want peace between everyone in the community they all carried guns in case like before protesters were yelling at them and pushing them; hardly a reason to pull a gun on someone.
Seeing the abuse of police officers on the civilians is upsetting because so many of them abuse their right and do things that should never be done to people.
I thoroughly enjoyed this documentary because it was incredibly informative and I could hear so many different peoples point of views. It was good how Yates went in with an unbiased opinion to interact with everybody.
The Stacey Dooley documentary was shocking because here in England I don't think about these terrible things happening to other young girls around the world many of whom are younger than me. The first girl she spoke to had a terrible start to her life online with predators constantly pestering her for things no 14 year old should be doing. It's saddening to here how she was with a man for the first time because he offered her £30, and that's what she feels she needs to do to get money. To us in the UK that is nothing but that must amount to a lot in the Philippines. It's interesting that easy internet access in the Philippines practically ensures that young girls will be approached by older men.
Things like trafficking we very rarely hear about but it's obviously a huge problem all over the Philippines and many other poor countries. I am not so aware of things like this which should change, the media should have more coverage on the terrible things happening in other countries.
The age of consent in the Philippines is 12 years old which is unbelievably young.
The emotional therapy session was particularly upsetting because it made me realise how bad the abuse was there. They anger they were showing was nothing like I'd ever seen before and I realise how lucky I am to have the life I live.
I really enjoyed this documentary because it informed me on something I didn't know much about and you don't hear much about in the media. It's shocking how these things happen all over the world and yet it's hard to get justice and protect these young girls being abused.
Sinai plane crash: Search widens for bodies and debris Teams investigating the fate of a Russian airliner which crashed in Egypt's Sinai peninsula on Saturday killing all 224 on board have widened their search for bodies and debris.
So far 163 bodies have been found but the search area was extended to 15km (9 miles) after some were located away from the main wreck of the Airbus 321. Russia is observing a day of mourning after its worst air disaster.
Egypt and Russia dismissed IS claims that its militants were responsible. Jihadists allied to so-called Islamic State in Sinai,where such groups are active, made a claim on social media that they had brought down flight KGL9268.
But Egyptian Prime Minister Sharif Ismail said experts had confirmed that a plane could not be downed at 9,450m (31,000ft), the altitude the plane was flying at, by weapons the militants are known to possess. Russian Transport Minister Maksim Sokolov said no evidence had been seen that indicated the plane was targeted.
However, three airlines - Emirates, Air France and Lufthansa - have decided not to fly over the Sinai Peninsula until more information is available. Two smaller carriers, flydubai and Air Arabia, also said they would re-route flights. British Airways and easyJet said they would not alter their routes.
The Kogalymavia Airbus A-321 came down early on Saturday, shortly after leaving the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the Russian city of St Petersburg. Russian and French investigators have joined the Egyptian-led probe, along with experts from Airbus, which is headquartered in France.
Meanwhile a Russian team has arrived at the crash site to join efforts to recover bodies, Russian media say. Egyptian officials said the perimeter for the search for bodies and debris had been widened to 15km. Some bodies had been recovered within a radius of 5km on Saturday, and that of a three-year-old girl was found 8km from the scene, they added.
The plane was carrying 217 passengers, including 25 children, Russian transport authorities said. There were seven crew members on board. Egyptian officials had said 213 of the passengers were Russian and four were Ukrainian, but Russian officials said at least one of the victims was from Belarus. The bodies of 163 victims have so far been recovered and taken to Cairo.
The first bodies to be returned to Russia are expected to be flown to St Petersburg on Sunday. One unnamed official described a "tragic scene" with bodies of victims still strapped to seats. The plane appeared to have split in two, he told Reuters, with one part burning up and the other crashing into a rock.
Another terrible plane crash that does not seem to have an explanation. People have gone through so much pain not knowing what has happened to their friends and families. I hope they investigate this crash properly because plane crashes in the past were never truly given a explanation as too why they happened, leaving families devastated without justice. I think IS are probably trying to take the blame to be featured more in the media.
How far does the 1st
person shooter genre affect the attitudes and behaviour of people?
The first person shooter genre is a genre that has had a lot
of controversy surrounding it over the past years, mainly due to the concerns
that it may affect the way others are acting. But how does this genre affect
people who play it and is it in a positive or negative way?
The 1st person shooter genre has not only been
used for entertainment but research into whether they can teach players to
shoot more accurately when using a real gun. In America the military and police
already use video games to improve shooting accuracy so researchers at Ohio
State University decided to test it on college students. In their study they
wanted to test the theory “Can violent
video games train a person to shoot a gun?” they tested this on 151 college
students. Students played one of the three video games being used in the test
for 20 minutes: a violent
shooting game with humanoid targets that rewarded headshots (e.g. Resident Evil 4),
a nonviolent shooting game with bull’s eye targets (e.g. the target practice
game inWii Play), or
a nonviolent, non shooting game (e.g. Super Mario Galaxy). Those who played a shooting game used either a
standard controller or a gun-shaped controller. Afterwards, they had to fire 16
shots at a life-size mannequin 20 feet (6.1 meters) away using an air soft
training pistol. The results
showed that players who used a pistol-shaped controller in a violent, shooting
video game had 99% more head shots
and 33% more other shots compared to
other players. The players were not told to aim for the head, but they did it
naturally because they were rewarded points for headshots in the game they
played.
However this does not show that people who play more video
games are more likely to fire a gun at others and instead indicates they can
improve your hand-eye coordination meaning the results have a good impact
rather than bad. Nonetheless the results do indicate that if they were to fire
a gun at someone else they would fire more accurately which is more likely to
result in a death, this certainly implies that 1st person shooter video games
are a powerful “weapon” to teach or increase skills potentially increasing the
use of dangerous weapons.
“But are video games
really the villains in our violent age?”
On
April 20th 1999, two seniors Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered
12 fellow students and 1 teacher and injured a further 20 in their high school
in Littleton, Colorado in a video they claimed they used the violent shooter
game “Doom” to practice their shooting rampage. However they were also
described at school to be socially isolated and they hated school and its jock
culture which would soon prove to be a deadly common bond.
There has been a rise in dramatically violent shootings and
attacks by teenagers, many of whom are said to play violent video games, this
is helping the argument that video game violence translates into real world
situations. But other people aren't convinced and insist that video games are a
scapegoat for a shocking social trend that has people scared and looking to
place blame. Entertainment media has always made a great scapegoat.
In July of 2011, Anders Breivik killed 77 people at a
political youth camp on the island of Utoya. In court, Breivik stated that he
used holographic aiming technology and the game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to
practice his aiming skills. He said that “(The gaming device) is built up in such a way that you could have
given it to your grandmother and she would have been a super marksman.”
That being said, video games did not appear to be his motive
to go on his shooting spree, but merely his training device. He had written a
manifesto claiming to have ties to the Knights Templar, giving him religious
motive. He said his attacks were to stop the “Islamisation” of Norway. He killed these people merely because he
did not agree with their opinions. Breivik is currently serving a 21-year
sentence for his crimes.
However surely for these serious acts of violence to take
place the assailant would have to have had a form of mental health disorder or
a specific personality trait that when triggered may cause someone to be so
violent. The violent video games have been referred to as a “Murder Simulator” but complete blame
cannot be put on a videogame.
For
instance, a 2010 study published in the "Review of General
Psychology," reviewed past studies that reported ties between violent
games and violent responses. The researchers found the subjects most deeply
affected by violent game play were those who showed personality traits that
demonstrated psychoticism, which include lack of empathy, nonconformity and
impulsiveness. People who fit this model tend to see violence as an appropriate
response to social conflict.
There is so much controversy surrounding games such as Call
of duty or Halo but not games that have hidden potential violence such as the Sims?
The Sims follows real life situations as you take care of a created family. But
you can decide to not take care of your family and do things such as starving
them to death. This may give people an exaggerated sense of power and control. Due
to the realism of The Sims by not feeding them your Sims will show how they are
suffering, by waving to get your attention or groaning in pain. You can even
watch your Sims burn alive, shouting for help but in Call of Duty signs of pain
during death are pretty much invisible. According to Gamespot as of 2010, The
Sims franchise has sold more than 125 million copies worldwide and Call Of Duty
having sold 175 million copies.
So why do we focus
primarily on the violence in the shooter genre?
Perhaps it’s because any attacks on people where a videogame
has been accused tend to be blamed on games in the shooter or action genre. It
could be because the main objective is to kill as many enemies as possible. But
if those enemies are also holding guns, trying to kill you would that not teach
people to only use guns in a self-defence situation? In the American
constitution the 2nd Amendment is “the right to keep and bear arms”,
but this is dependent on how an individual perceives this law. Some may
identify it as having the right to defend yourself others may look at the
amendment and recognize it as a way to eradicate responsibility from their
actions.
Younger people are more likely to be affected by the
violence in these games. Young people can be influenced easier because they
aren’t completely set on what they believe is right or wrong. Media violence can
lead to aggressive behavior in children, this is supported by research that states
that when a child hits the age of 18, he/she must have seen about 200,000 acts
of violence on television alone. Young children become desensitized to the real
world violence. They cannot easily tell the difference between real life and
fantasy so the violent images they see on television and in the movies may seem
real to them.
I understand that this genre of videogame may affect someone
if they are a child and they play these games constantly as they progress into
their teenage years as they might start to believe what they’re seeing is right
but this doesn’t in any way mean they will go on a shooting rampage. Video
games have age ratings and if parents still allow their young children to play
18 rated games is it really the game developers fault if the child decides to
follow the same path as the game’s protagonist?
The future of gaming stands with the Oculus Rift (2016) and
Sony’s Project Morpheus. They’ve been created to put the player in the games
and let them be in the virtual reality that would usually be on the TV or
computer screen. Both these devices are headsets that cover your eyes and as
you turn your head every part of the room you are standing in becomes the game.
When the Oculus rift is connected to the Oculus touch it enables the game to
follow your hand movements placing you further inside of the game. Will the
real life experience of shooting your opponents transfer into the everyday
lives of the players? Or will it simply give you a more fascinating experience?
After watching a Documentary; BBC’s Horizon: Are video games
really that bad? I got an idea for my primary research. There was one
experiment in particular that interested me and was easy to carry out at
home. Dr Andrew Przybylski a ‘research fellow’ who specialises in
Psychology of motivation (What makes us act the way we do) at Oxford University
and his colleagues investigated what other emotions were triggered in a
videogame to cause aggression, the method was simple and could be done at home
so I chose some subjects and tested it on them. 20 people took part and were a
variety of different ages, genders and class. I used two different games to
test this Super Mario Land; the typical well known Mario game and Unfair Mario;
a hidden trap is in the game nearly every other move. Half of the participants
played unfair Mario. Before they played each participant had to immerse their
hand in ice cold water for 20 seconds. After playing the participants were
asked how long the other players should hold their hands in the water for and
on average the players who played Unfair Mario suggested an extra 5 seconds
than those who played Super Mario. The response of increased aggression
couldn’t have anything to do with violence. My responses were similar to
Przybylski’s which helped me understand his theory that frustration was the
emotion to trigger the aggression.
To conclude I don’t think violent crimes can be blamed on a
game because the video game didn’t tell them to go out and kill and I don’t
think video games can alter the way people think drastically. If someone
commits a heinous crime of murder they must have thought about doing it in the
past, the video game may have been the trigger but it certainly wasn’t the
enforcer. As mentioned earlier personality traits will alter the way people
think after seeing something violent. Video games are an easy scapegoat as a
motive for a crime but really the only crime video games have committed is to
help improve accuracy, whether the player uses this for the benefit of their
coordination or to practice real life shooting is no fault of the game.
More than 12 Million fall into UK digital skills gap Over 12 million people, and a million small businesses in the UK do not have the skills to prosper in the digital era. That is the warning today from Go.On UK, a charity set up to promote digital skills.
It has produced what it calls a digital exclusion heatmap, pinpointing the areas where people are most likely to miss out on the digital revolution. There is bad news for Wales where over a third of the population do not have the five basic digital skills as defined by the charity. But London, Scotland and East Anglia, come top of the league with over 80% of people having those skills.
The map also shows that men are less likely to be digitally disadvantaged than women, with 80% having the necessary skills as compared to 74% of women. What are these five skills, without which we are unfit for the digital future? Well if you can manage information, communicate, make payments, solve problems, and create stuff online then you are in good shape.
A survey of over 4,000 people nationwide to assess their skills, coupled with data about education, income, health and internet access, have all helped build the exclusion heatmap. The BBC, with its Make It Digital project, is among the institutions backing the map.
Where skills are lacking, poverty and a lack of infrastructure are part of the story. Wales has the lowest levels of internet access and places like Merthyr Tydfil are amongst the poorest in the UK.
But the charity says the UK isn't doing too badly compared with other countries when it comes to broadband availability, and in our use of mobile devices we are ahead of many of our rivals. So you might think that a country which has taken to online shopping and social media with feverish enthusiasm would also be a leader in digital skills. But it seems that we are a little below average compared with OECD rivals, and well behind countries like Japan, Finland and the Netherlands.
Donald Trump says he's not blaming George W. Bush for 9/11,
but he claims that if he'd been president, the attacks never would have
happened. In an appearance on "Fox News Sunday," the real estate
mogul said that since he's "extremely, extremely tough on
immigration" the attackers wouldn't have been in position to commandeer
U.S. flights. "So there's a good chance that those people would not have
been in our country," Trump said.
He took another shot at Jeb Bush for claiming that Bush's
brother, the 43rd president, kept the nation safe. "I'm not blaming George
Bush," Trump said. "But I don't want Jeb Bush to say, 'My brother
kept us safe,' because September 11 was one of the worst days in the history of
this country." It wasn't just on the Sunday shows that Trump attacked Bush
over his brother's tenure.
On Twitter, as the "Fox News Sunday" interview
aired, Trump tweeted: "Jeb, why did your brother attack and destabalize
the Middle East by attacking Iraq when there were no weapons of mass
destruction? Bad info?" He also tweeted: "Jeb Bush should stop trying
to defend his brother and focus on his own shortcomings and how to fix
them."
Bush is pushing back against the criticism, which Trump has made
repeatedly in recent days. In an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on
"State of the Union" Sunday, Bush defended his brother's presidency.
"My brother responded to a crisis, and he did it as you
would hope a president would do. He united the country, he organized our
country and he kept us safe. And there's no denying that. The great majority of
Americans believe that," he said.
"And I don't know why he keeps bringing this up. It
doesn't show that he's a serious person as it relates to being commander in
chief and being the architect of a foreign policy," Bush added.
I think that this was a stupid comment that Trump made that had no reasoning behind it. He says it's wouldn't have happened had he had been president and he wouldnt' have let the immigrants in the country, but the people that committed this terrible crime aren't just immigrants are are terrorists making me think it couldn't have been avoided. I personally think Trump is trying to implicitly but the blame of 9/11 on Bush but doesn't want to say it outright.
When we went to the BFI film festival we watched a series of
short films all made by different directors and producers and all following a different
narrative and mostly using a different genre. My favourite film was Alicia
Macdonld’s Romantic comedy ‘Otherwise Engaged’ because it looked at how social
media changes our lives and affects how we react to things. I felt I could
relate because being a teenager in the 21st century I have witnessed
similar activities to what happened in the film. I felt the film was made
better because it was a comedy and it made me realise how unusual these actions
are especially straight after an engagement. I also thoroughly enjoyed the
first film that was shown to us which was Caroline Bartleet’s Drama ‘Operator’.
I liked this film because it was incredibly tense and really captured my
attention, it was also based around a phone call Bartleet had heard which made
it more intriguing because it was partially based on a true story.
All the film makers took a different approach to making
their films so it was interesting to hear how they made them and the
difficulties they had whilst creating them. I was quite surprised about their
budgets with none being particularly high and this inspired me to think that I can
also create a good film on a low budget. I really enjoyed some elements from
the film such as in ‘Otherwise Engaged’ one of the characters ‘Megan’ had her
music playing and the music quietened whenever the camera was facing away from
her which I felt was really effective. These shorts films also helped me to
think about a range of ideas for my short film I will be making for the film
coursework. The shots they used made me further think about how the shots are
used to show different things.
Ankara Attacks: Turkey in mourning as blast kills over 100
Thousands of Turkish citizens gathered in central Ankara a day after twin bombings targeted a peace rally in the city, killing over a hundred civilians in an attack that demonstrators and mourners blamed squarely on the government of the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Witnesses and victims’ families, as well as opposition parties, ascribed direct responsibility to the government for allegedly failing to provide any security measures ahead of the peace rally, saying police officers who arrived at the scene after the bombing fired tear gas at grieving families who rushed there to inquire about their loved ones.
They also blamed Erdoğan’s government for allegedly sowing chaos ahead of next month’s parliamentary polls, either to delay the elections and retain power for his ruling Justice and Development party (AKP), or to increase his chances of securing a broader majority in the elections to maintain security.
“We are grieving, we are saddened, but we are also furious,” the Kurdish opposition leader, Selahattin Demirtas, told a rally in Sihhiye Square in central Ankara. “We will struggle, fight, and win back the democracy.” Demonstrators shouted slogans condemning the Turkish president, chanting “chief and murderer Erdoğan” and “death to fascism”.
Brief scuffles earlier broke out as police used teargas to prevent people from laying red carnations at the site of the attack, the deadliest terrorist strike on Turkish soil in recent history. The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic party (HDP) said said some members of its delegation sustained injuries. According to the HDP, the number of people killed in the bombing stands at 128, all but eight of whom have been identified and their names published by the HDP’s crisis desk.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, and the government has denied any part in it. The prime minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, cited the political upheaval in both Turkey and Syria and said the attack could have been carried out by Islamic State, Kurdish militants or radical leftist groups.
If this act of violence was another terrorist attack carried out by the Islamic state I think this terrible event just backs up the idea that all the countries should be working together to defeat IS. These attacks have gone on too long to the point where nobody feels safe in their own country, fearing something terrible could happen when you're in a certain place.
Kingsman: The Secret Service is a 2014 action comedy
directed by Matthew Vaughn and written by Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn and
Skyfall is a 2012 action thriller film directed by Sam Mendes and written by
Neal Purvis, it is the 23rd instalment of the Bond series. These
films have many similar and different themes and conventions throughout but
both come under the same sub-genre of spy movie but are portrayed quite
differently. Kingsman is about a spy organisation that recruits an unrefined
street kid into the agency’s training program, Skyfall on the other hand
follows the narrative of most James Bond films; Bond must track down and
destroy the threat after M’s past comes back to haunt her.
The most noticeable difference is the way the spy’s are
portrayed in these films. In Skyfall the film has a very serious tone following
the typical conventions of a classic spy film whereas Kingsman has a tone that
it a lot more relaxed with conventions of comedy featured, however Kingsman may
also be seen more as a spoof of spy movies as a lot of the typical features
e.g. a mastermind villain is made fun of and shown as a joke. Also a feature of
mise-en-scene used similarly in both is costume. The agents in both films are
shown to wear suits, which is shown to be a feature of superiority. This links
into the theme of masculinity as only the men in the films are shown to wear
suits. Masculinity is a strong theme in both films.
Masculinity is a strong theme because both of the
protagonists are males and the villains both of which are trying to save or
change the world. Masculinity is more so shown throughout Skyfall rather than
Kingsman which does show masculinity but the males are far from being the only
ones able to fight and defend themselves. In Kingsman some stereotypical traits
of masculinity are put into the female characters as well as the males. Both
Bond (Daniel Craig) and Harry Hart (Colin Firth) are shown to represent the
dominant ideology, white, middle class, middle aged, straight males.
Valentine played by Samuel L Jackson (the evil genius) has
an assistant Gazelle (Sofia Boutella) who is not only female but is also
disabled with blades for legs which is incredibly useful when trying to take
over the world. Gazelle features in the only big fight scene between two
people, she faces the protagonist Eggsy (Taron Egerton). She is shown to be
incredibly strong and difficult to beat with her unbelievable skills in martial
arts, and although defeated she fights very well in order to protect Valentine,
this is certainly unusual for an action film; the female protects the male so
here Vaughn has played on gender stereotypes and decides to make the female the
protector. The representation of Gazelle also shows disability in a positive
light implying the can do things just as well as someone with no disabilities. Also
during the Kingsman training Eggsy meets fellow trainee Roxy (Sophie Cookson)
who although against all males but one comes out on top and is chosen to be the
new Lancelot. In Skyfall the one woman who was out on the field Eve (Naomie
Harris) makes a fatal mistake presumably killing 007 in the beginning, by the
end of the film she has given up on wanting to be on the field and instead
stays in the office to work by line said by Bond “If it helps, I feel a lot safer”
this shows how females are seen as incapable and in this particular film a
danger in this line of work.
However the theme of masculinity in women is also contradicted
in some cases as in both films particularly Skyfall the women are sexualised.
Bond is shown in a few scene to be having sexual relations with different
women. The first woman he left as soon as he heard MI6 were in danger and
quickly moved on to a new woman as soon as he was put onto a new mission all
while still flirting with Eve. The film never shows you what happen to these
women except Eve which shows how women are sexual objects to the men for when
they want to be entertained. The one scene in Kingsman is the end scene when
Eggsy approaches a kidnapped princess to have anal sex after she says “If you
save the world, we can do it in the asshole”, the end shot of the film is a
shot of the Princess’s arse which was surprising and inappropriate since throughout
the film all the females are shown in a positive light so it was quite disappointing
to see them change the tone so quickly.
Oregon shooting: Gunman was student in class where he killed 9
The man identified as Chris Mercer who gunned down nine people at an Oregon community
college was enrolled in the class where the fatal shootings occurred, Douglas
County Sheriff John Hanlin said Friday.
Investigators found 13 firearms connected to shooter,
Celinez Nunez of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said:
"Five
pistols and one rifle were found at the college, where the shooter died
Thursday after a gunbattle with police", Nunez told reporters.
Police searched his apartment and found two pistols, four
rifles and a shotgun, she said.
"All the guns were legally obtained by the shooter or
family members over the last three years through a federally licensed firearms
dealer, she said. A flak jacket was found next to a rifle at the school with
five magazines of ammunition", Nunez said, "and additional ammunition
was found at the residence."
Authorities are not providing a motive for America's latest
mass killing. The gunman went to the college in rural south Oregon heavily
armed and wearing body armour, authorities’ said. Two of the people killed were
members of the local EMS and fire department "family," Douglas County
Fire District No. 2 Chief Greg Marlar said. Sen. Jeff Merkley said one of his
cousins was killed at the school. "This is a small town and everyone is
affected," he said.
Stacy Boylan, the father of Anastasia Boylan, who was
wounded, said she told him the gunman singled out Christians.
She said the gunman entered her classroom firing, told the
professor teaching the class, "I've been waiting to do this for
years," and shot him point blank, Stacy Boylan said. "While reloading
his handgun, the man ordered the students to stand up and asked whether they
were Christians", Boylan told her family.
"And they would stand up, and he said, 'Good, because
you're a Christian, you're going to see God in just about one second,' "Stacy
Boylan told CNN, relaying his daughter's account. "And then he shot and
killed them."
In my opinion I just can’t believe another terrible college
shooting has occurred. When events like this happen it really makes me annoyed
that America have not yet changed their gun laws, there is always talk about
the change but the change has no yet commenced. The problem with everyone
having a right to bear arms is that some people use this law for bad things to
happen such as this event and nothing can stop it. I feel great sympathy for
all the victims of this crime and their families both young and old. R.I.P.
France Launches Syria Anti-IS strikes The president's office said that French planes struck targets identified during reconnaissance missions conducted over the past fortnight. French jets have previously carried out air strikes against IS targets in neighbouring Iraq.
"Our country thus confirms its resolute commitment to fight against the terrorist threat represented by Daesh," the French Presidency said, referring to the militant group by another of its acronyms.
"We will strike each time that our national security is at stake,"the statement added.
President Francois Hollande announced earlier this month that he was preparing to send jets to Syria. He said at the time that terror attacks had been planned against France from Syria.
A US-led coalition has been carrying out airstrikes against IS in Syria and Iraq for more than a year. France, like the UK, has previously confined its air strikes against the Islamic State group to Iraqi airspace. The UK announced earlier this month it had carried out a drone strike against two British citizens in Syria but has yet to fly manned operations in Syrian airspace.
Analysis: Hugh Scholfield, BBC News, ParisHugh Scholfield, BBC News, Paris wrote an analysis on current events this is some of what he said:
The French air strikes in Syria reflect the shifting emphasis in the war against the Islamic State. Before now, France said that international law prevented it from attacking targets in Syria, and it was adamant that it would do nothing to help - even indirectly - the Assad government. But the situation has changed. France now says it has evidence that IS planned terror attacks against it from Syria - making air strikes against the militants legitimate under UN rules on self-defence. The biggest change though is that France has swallowed hard and accepted that getting rid of Mr Assad is no longer the priority. Paris will not ever say it too loudly - because it used to be the Syrian president's most outspoken opponent - but today the fight against IS trumps everything else.
I agree that we should start fighting against IS because all that they are doing is wrong and against humanity, but I fear they might start another un-needed war. Already thousands of innocent Syrians are fleeing the country in terror hoping they can survive. I feel the countries need to come together to battle IS but before that we need to help the refugees that are helpless otherwise we will have two serious problems to deal with, like we have at the moment. If we aren't careful we could end up hurting more people than needed not only Syrians but also from our own countries such as the British and French. If they are going to fight back they need to do so quickly to keep their people safe and to destroy IS.
Fruitvale Station is a 2013 American Social realism, Drama,
biography film written and directed by Ryan Coogler. Fruitvale station is the true
story of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a 22 year old Bay Area resident. With
previous convictions Grant vows to change for the new year, he plans to be a
better partner to his girlfriend Sophina (Melonie Diaz), a better son to his
mother Wanda (Octavia Spencer) and being a better father to his 4 year old
daughter T (Tatiana) played by Ariana Neal. The story follows his journey
throughout the day and night of the 31st December 2013 until his final
fatal encounter with police officers at Fruitvale Bart Station would cause the
entire nation to be witnesses to the story of Oscar Grant. The film had a small
budget of £592,000 and made an amazing £11.4m in the box office.
This film comes under the genres of social realism, drama
and biography due to different conventions used. I can tell its social realism
because the film follows a man from a lower class background, you can see this
is the mise-en-scene and location of the character’s environment. When it shows
inside the house you can see in to most other rooms when the camera is standing
in one which shows the size of the house. It’s also social realism because it’s
realistic, there’re no car chases or multiple explosions instead to gives you
an insight into how many people live their lives. The simple fact that it
exhibits real life situations if a clear convention of a Drama film and its
obvious biography comes in to the genre as soon as the film says “based on a
true story.”
One major theme shown predominantly in the last few scenes
is police brutality. This theme is similar to other films I have seen such as
Mathieu Kassovitz’s 1995 film La Haine and Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do The Right
Thing. The main similarity between these films is not just police brutality but
the representation of race within this brutality. The police are shown to be
predominantly against different races and treat them differently than if they
were Caucasian. They’re a lot more understanding towards white people and see
all other races as trouble makers. In the scene set at Fruitvale Station when
the police are grabbing the “troublemakers” they only took Grant and his group
they didn’t take the group of white males who actually started the fight which emphasises
they were treated differently because they didn’t look like everyone else. This
film gave me a true and deeper insight into these events. This film used the
representation of events to shows us what really happened so we wouldn’t just
have to listen to the mixed and mostly biased media tell us Grant was “dangerous”
like they have with the recent murders of young black Americans. The film portrayed
Grant to be this loving family man who wanted to set his wrong doings right
which generated more sympathy and sadness within me as I watched the brutal
event unfold and happen to an innocent man.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this film it was heart breaking
but incredibly intriguing. The acting was great and caused me to become more
emotional. This film made me realise just how much power the police have over
the citizens of their town or city and it portrays to you how much they really “care”
for these citizens. Justice never seems to be fully served to the police with
the officer being charged for first degree murder but being found guilty of involuntary
manslaughter, being sentenced for a minor 2 years yet still only serving 11
months. I felt I experienced what his family did due to the truly devastating
story but also the great acting. I would highly recommend this film.
At least 13 dead in Migrant boat collision with ferry off Turkey
At least 13 migrants died off the coast of Turkey Sunday after the inflatable dinghy carrying them to Greece collided with a ferry, Turkish media reported. Four children were among the victims of the accident involving a boat carrying 46 migrants from the northwestern Turkish port of Canakkale to the Greek island of Lesbos.
Turkey's coast guard agency said in a statement to its website that it intervened after being alerted that a commercial vessel hit a migrant boat off the western port city of Canakkale and that bodies were in the water. Twenty people were rescued and 13 people were still missing, the report added. The Coastguard said it had rescued 20 people spotted in the water by a helicopter deployed by EU border agency Frontex, but the survivors said another 26 people had been in the boat.
The sinking was the second Sunday in the Aegean Sea, with the Greek coastguard reporting another two dozen feared missing from a boat that got into trouble close to Lesbos. There was no information on the nationalities of the migrants.
This is very sad news due to the ongoing migrant crisis throughout europe. It does not seem the migrants have been given a very safe way to cross especially the fact they've been travelling in an inflatable dinghy. More care needs to be taken for the transportation of the migrants.
Fox News
Fox News is a U.S. broadcasting news channel. They are known for their slogan "fair and balanced" which in the majority of cases the complete opposite of how they actually report.
After watching several different news articles from Fox News I can easily tell they often say things that are usually considered inappropriate to say on live television. They seem very open about all their opinions even if considered inappropriate or politicly incorrect. In one report Fox news reporter Bill O'Reilly is talking to Marc Lamont Hill (PhD) and says "Let's say you're a cocaine dealer - and you kinda look like one a bit..." It just so happens the man he is talking too is black which can easily be deemed as a racist comment. In another report about sexual assault in the military Fox news pundit Liz Trotta complained feminists wanted to be "Warriors and victims at the same time". When she talks about the 60% increase of sexual assault in the military she says "What did they expect?... These people are in close contact... I thought the mission of the army was to defend and protect us not the people who are fighting the war." No sexual assault should ever be given and excuse so for her to speak this on live TV is terrible. They broadcast their prejudiced opinions on air with racist comments and excuses for murder and assault and are still considered the most trusted network in the U.S.
They even go as far as blaming a murder on a Hoodie.
The Last leg
The Last Leg is a British comedy-news show which is broadcast on channel 4. It presented by Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker. Although it is fairly comedy based in cases where it's needed the presenters are completely serious addressing cases that need to be looked at. In one part of an episode they take a look a UKIP's manifesto before the election, after Australian presenter Adam Hills states he can vote their are comments from their guest and other presenters saying "Why?" and "This has all gone to shit this election". Widdicombe goes on to say "Do you know what? These guys have got a point going" They are making jokes as if they are UKIP supporters when in reality don't support UKIP in any way. This makes it amusing for the audience without coming across as rude or racist unlike Fox News at many points.
This scene from this episode is a great example where they turn from comedic to serious pretty quickly.
Misfits created and written by
Howard Overman and Black Mirror created by Charlie Brooker have both their
similarities and differences. Both of these shows are produced by channel 4.
They are both in the sci-fi genre and show a dystopian future in a different
way. They both have a target audience of
young adults but Black Mirror focuses more on the changing of the world and
Misfits focuses on how we can be changed.
Black Mirror shows how technology
can run the future and change it usually for the worst where as in Misfits they
use a supernatural element by giving the group of protagonist’s super powers.
Misfits isn’t set in the future but it defiantly shows a strong theme of
Dystopia. Both Misfits and Black Mirror show strong connotations on how the
world has a lack of control and order to create an unimaginable world. However
Misfits can also come under the sub genre of black Comedy.
Due to Misfits being a
hybrid-genre of sci-fi comedy the producer has opened up a lot more pathways
that the TV show can take in order to be a lot more interesting. Misfits
follows the narrative of a group of young offenders on community service that
after a strange storm learn they now have a superpower. Although superpowers
are very unrealistic the show adds a great sense of realism due to the
portrayal of the characters. This show has a big representation of youth; the
five main characters who happen to be teenagers are all on community service
which certainly doesn’t portray teenagers in a good light. The youth are depicted
in a worse light when they start committing terrible crimes even if they do it
unintentionally. Kelly is one of the
protagonists and possibly the biggest stereotyped character; she is portrayed as
lower class with bad language, lots of makeup and not much dignity. Kelly
reminds me of a character in the film Fish Tank called Mia where she is
portrayed in exactly the same way but you can see Mia is of a low social class
which made me realise how Kelly was shown in the same way.
Black Mirror however follows a narrative
in a dystopian future especially the second episode which surrounds the use of
technology and how it will affect us in the future. The first episode surrounds
the British prime minister being blackmailed into bestiality in order to save a
princess’s life. This episode shows a representation of class and how much
power they have. If the person he had to save wasn’t someone who belonged to a
family of such great power maybe she would’ve been considered not worth saving,
also the prime minister who is also upper class is who the blackmail was aimed
at. Someone of such high status is more likely to attract attention. He has
power over whether the princess died or lived but she had power over whether he
was publicly embarrassed or deemed as a killer. They both have great power
against one another although unintentionally. So this shows how Misfits and
Black Mirror have the theme of power in both although very different types of
power. However in the second episode we saw how the future would change at the
speed technology is growing; soon our lives will be ruled by technology, the
technology would be in charge of us and decide how we live our lives.
In conclusion both TV shows
present themselves similarly by using similar themes. However how they both
follow the conventions of the sci-fi genre is very different with one showing
the birth of the supernatural and the other showing a new life for humans under
the rule of technology.
Pupils will have to score more highly to gain a "good pass" in their GCSEs, under changes to England's exams.
Candidates will have to obtain a Grade 5, equivalent to a low B or high C now, as grading switches to numbers nine to one in exams to be taken first in 2017.
The aim is to make standards comparable to top-performing countries such as Finland, Canada, and the Netherlands. Education Secretary Nicky Morgan says raising the bar on GCSE exams will help pupils achieve in life. The new grading system, which replaces the A to G system with a new nine-to-one numbered scale, comes as new "more rigorous" GCSEs are being introduced for first teaching this September.
The new grading system has been designed to reveal the differences between candidates at the top end. Currently, candidates are expected to achieve a C to attain a "good pass", although grades below this are still officially considered passes.
New GCSEs
GCSEs to be graded from nine to one, replacing A*-to-G grades
Grade 9 will be highest
Grade 5 will be considered a good pass, equivalent to a current low B or high C. It will be linked to standards in high performing countries
Grade 4 will be equivalent to current low C grade
Grade 1 will be lowest
Introduced for new-style GCSEs in English and maths to be taught from September 2015
First of new exam grades awarded summer 2017
I do think this is a better more reliable way to understand which students are more ready and will strive more from going on to take A-Levels. However I also think that it'll make it a lot harder for more students to achieve the grades they are aiming for as they'll have to work so much harder to even get a 4 (C grade) therefore making it more difficult to get into colleges or 6th forms which will stop them from going onto further education such as university. They'll have a lot less opportunities in life if they do not get the grades.
A man will appear in court later charged with attempted
murder after a knife attack at Leytonstone Underground station in east London
on Saturday.
